CHAIRMAN (EX-OFFICIO)

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine, was born in Kenya, in 1938 into a large peasant family. He was educated at Kamandura, Manguu and Kinyogori primary schools; Alliance High School, all in Kenya; Makerere University College (then a campus of London University), Kampala, Uganda; and the University of Leeds, Britain.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dr. Ndũcũ wa Ngũgĩ is a prize-winning author and scholar dedicated to advancing African languages and storytelling traditions. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Black Studies from Oberlin College (Ohio), a Master of Education (M.Ed.) and an Education Specialist (Ed.S.) in Teacher Leadership from Mercer University (Atlanta, Georgia), and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) from Molloy University.

Dr. Ndũcũ’s work bridges education, literature, and cultural preservation, emphasizing the power of language in shaping identity and fostering pride in African heritage.

TREASURER AND CFO

Ngina Kiarie has a master's degree in accounting and financial management. She has experience in grant, investment, and treasury management. Kiarie has also worked in the NGO financial sector for over twenty years.

SECRETARY

Dr. Samuel Kọ́láwọlé an assistant professor of English and African Studies at Pennsylvania State University, is the author of The Book of M (2011) and The Road to the Salt Sea (Amistad, 2024.) His short stories have appeared in AGNI Magazine, Harvard Review, and The Hopkins Review among others. Kọ́láwọlé is also a faculty member of the Vermont College of Fine Arts, MFA program.

Dr. Dawlat Yassin is an Instructor at the University of Houston-Clear Lake where she teaches advanced writing and graduate courses in humanities and literature. She has a PhD in Literature from the University of Houston and a B.A. from the Lebanese University, Lebanon. Dr. Yassin specializes in postcolonial literature, comparative literature, empire studies, and resistance literature.

Jane Bosibori Marando Obuchi is the author of Endabasia Yechinkwana chi’Ekegusii (a dictionary of Ekegusii phrasal verbs), Chingero chi’Abagusii (Ekegusii Folk Songs), Marando the Farmer and Other Stories, a collection of Children’s short stories also translated into Ekegusii, Omoremi Marando n’Emegano Ende, amongst others. She has translated and published in Ekegusii language Ngūgī wa Thiong'o's The Upright Revolution, The River Between, and I Will Marry When I Want; Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart; and William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Joe Mwai is a self-made entrepreneur, computer support engineer, a software integrator, as well as motivational writer and speaker. He is the CEO of Riara Institute of Clean Energy Ltd, an affiliate of Riara University in Kenya, Managing Director of Kenya Light Project Ltd, Director of Bloomfields Care Ltd, UK, as well as Director of Solar Dimension Ltd, Kenya.

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DR. KURIA P. MBURU is a lecturer of linguistics at Pioneer International University where he also heads the Education Department. He has taught in Universite’ De Djibouti, University of Nairobi, Murang’a University of Technology, and is an Adjunct Lecturer at Kenyatta University. Dr. Mburu has a PHD in Phonology from Kenyatta University, Kenya. His research interests are in the Phonological and Orthographical structures of African Indigenous Languages., especially GĨKŨYŨ.